USA, TX: Urban South Brewery’s Houston location announces its closing

Fans who enjoy high-quality, quenchable IPAs, fruited sours and fun experimental beers may be upset to learn that Urban South Brewery’s Houston location has announced its closing.

Urban South posted the announcement through its social media accounts Friday, April 19.

“It is with a bittersweet feeling that we announce the closing of our beloved Houston taproom starting today,” read the announcement. “While we bid farewell to our cozy space, rest assured that Urban South beers will continue to be brewed out of the original New Orleans location and still be readily available across Houston through distribution channels.”

Urban South Founder and CEO Jacob Landry told Chron Friday that the Houston location closed because the situation with its Sawyer Yards landlord Lovett Commercial became untenable. Lovett has been building apartments on its former parking lot space, plus directly across Oliver Street.

“We’ve been in the middle of a construction zone for well over a year,” Landry said. “We were hoping to push through and work something out with them, but there was just not any steam left.”

Landry said Urban South “lost a lot of money” with the Houston location, though they hoped things would turn around in the future.

“It may end up being a great place, but unfortunately we’ve been subsidizing the growth of that area.”

Based in New Orleans, Urban South opened its Houston location in 14,000 square feet at Sawyer Yards on Feb. 29, 2020. The timing of that opening was unfortunate, as Urban South and all other breweries and food-and-beverage businesses were severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic just weeks later.

But Urban South got through the pandemic with a robust take-out service, gaining plenty of new fans in the process.

“That first period we navigated pretty well,” Landry said. “The community was just incredibly supportive.”

In 2022, it began distributing its beers, such as Paradise Park American Lager and Lime Cucumber Gose, to Houston-area markets. Later, Urban South started canning its Houston-made HTX Hazy Juicy IPA to further cement its connection to Space City.

Urban South isn't the only brewery to close in the Sawyer Yards area this year; Buffalo Bayou Brewing Co. shut down its three-story facility in January because of a situation with its landlord. Several other breweries have closed recently in the Houston area.

Landry said Urban South, which is the second-largest brewery in Louisiana, will continue to distribute its beers to Houston-area markets, bars and restaurants.

“It’s been a wonderful few years,” Landry said. “The pandemic really forged a lot of creativity, a lot of camaraderie. The community embraced us and saw us as a third space. This is a really sad moment for us, as a ton of blood, sweat and tears went into it.”

20 April, 2024